Ola unveils app-like mobile site to reach out to consumers from small towns

This web app which was announced at the Google I/O 2017 in San Franscisco today, is targeted at consumers in smaller towns and cities who typically own low-end smartphones and struggle with flaky network connectivity.Vikas SN | ETtech | Updated: May 18, 2017, 10:12 IST

India's largest cab-hailing application Ola has unveiled a mobile version of its website that offers an app-like experience to consumers at a fraction of the data used by native apps.

This progessive web app (PWA) which was announced at the Google's annual developer conference Google I/O in San Franscisco today, is targeted at consumers in smaller towns and cities who typically own low-end smartphones and struggle with flaky network connectivity.

"As the first ride-hailing app in the APAC region that is using PWA technology, this represents an important development that will enable us to reach an ever greater number of customers and driver-partners in rural India," said Ola chief technology officer Ankit Bhati.

Similar to the Ola's native app, users can book a cab across all categories on this mobile web app and pay for their ride via Ola Money. The web app also has features like OTP verification for rides, maps for pick up and drop location, ride later options and Share Pass among others.

That said, both these offerings appeal to a different set of audiences and customers will have different expectations from both the mediums, Bhati told ETtech.

"There is a significant user base, especially in these cities who use low end smartphones with poor network and/or have low storage space in their phones. PWA is helping us penetrate these markets and reach new users" he said.

Ola had stopped taking cab bookings on its website and had gone app-only in mid-2015. With this move, it has essentially made a comeback to the web, quite similar to Flipkart that launched a progressive web app in November 2015.

Bhati told ETtech that they started building this web app about four months ago and released it two months back. It was initially used only by Ola employees for a month following which the web app was released to general public.

Bhati claimed that their mobile web traffic has grown by as much at 90% in some segments since launch and they have witnessed almost the same conversion rate as their native app.

In fact, Bhati claimed the rate went even higher in several Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. "We’re also seeing a lot of repeat behaviour, and use cases such as Outstation and Rental are doing exceptionally well." he told ETtech.

When we tried the web app, we noticed the app was quite minimalistic and snappy to use, even in low Internet connections. The app shows the real time availability of rides across different categories and allows users to enter the drop location to get a fare estimate and book a ride.

One can also choose to book outstation or rental cabs, each of which has a dedicated tab on the web app, indicating the importance of these categories to the web app. Besides this, one can view their previous rides and rate card among others.